An oil obtained from Demerara, British Guiana, and designated "laurel oil" was examined by Stenhouse1). According to Christison the oil was obtained from a tree of the genus Ocotea by making incisions near the root, thus opening up the oil containers under the bark. The exuding oil constitutes a yellowish liquid which has a pleasant odor reminding one of turpentine. It boiled at 149,5 to 162,5° and the specific gravity was 0,864 at 13,3°. Upon setting aside a mixture of oil, alcohol and dilute nitric acid, Stenhouse obtained crystals, which after recrystalliza-tion separated as rhombic prisms melting at 150°.

The oil appears to consist of pinene and the crystals obtained by the action of nitric acid may have been terpin hydrate. With this assumption, however, the melting point of 150°2) does not agree, since terpin hydrate melts as low as from 116 to 117°.